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Taste of Diversity

By Stella Hartono

The first ever Taste of Diversity sponsored by the College of Medicine Office for Diversity and the Student National Medical Association (SNMA), Mayo Clinic Chapter was held on Saturday, January 12th, 2013. The celebration offered learners, faculty and staff the opportunity to celebrate the diverse heritage, cultures and traditions within the College of Medicine. Ethnic hors d'oeuvres were prepared by Sodexho Catering, however several learners brought in homemade ethnic dishes to share with attendees.

There was a variety of entertainment. Musical performances were provided by Elizabeth Hillebrand and Jessica Saw who performed classical songs from Europe, The Contributions who performed easy listening/American pop songs, Kerry Kittleson who played traditional Celtic music on the fiddle, and Carson and Elspeth Wright who performed traditional American Folk songs. Special guest performers included Quincy Nang who recited French and African Poetry as well as Vwaire Orhurhu who performed various piano and vocal performances.

Elizabeth Hillebrand and Jessica Saw

The Contributions (Sarah Pohlman and Lynn Bockenhauer)

The evening ended with a fashion show featuring cultural dress from all over the world and an impromptu dance to PSY’s sensational song, “Gangnam Style”.

Promoting diversity at school is indeed important. Uniting the leaders at all levels and involving faculty members, staff members, and all of the students are indeed an important step to promote the culture of inclusion. Social activity, such as Taste of Diversity, is an effective platform to heighten faculty members’ and students’ diversity awareness or consciousness. Perhaps, diversity education and training should be made mandatory for all of the faculty members and students to ensure the success of culture of inclusion. Moreover, It is important to monitor the diversity programs. Perhaps, the school committee should conduct anonymous surveys to measure the progress of the diversity programs. By measuring the progress, the organization will be able to improve the efforts in the areas that need an improvement.

Promoting the culture of inclusion is certainly worth the effort because it benefits the organization and the organization’s members by promoting teamwork among members, reducing discrimination, and promoting an understanding and appreciation of differences in cultural backgrounds, and personal orientation among members.